Abstract

Novel anti-vasculature strategies that are emerging for the treatment of cancer and for the inhibition of angiogenesis may be a promising new tool for the adjuvant therapy of malignant tumours. Over the last fifteen years, several reports have been published concerning the relationship between tumour progression and angiogenesis in experimental models of neuroblastoma in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, a high vascular index in neuroblastoma correlates with poor prognosis, suggesting dependence of aggressive tumour growth on active angiogenesis. Here, we present an overview of the most recent advances in anti-vasculature therapy of neuroblastoma, and describe some preclinical results as well as future perspectives.

Keywords: Liposomes, ligand-mediated targeting, peptides, phage display, angiogenesis, anti-tumour drugs, neuroblastoma